


Stocking Shelves

by moistureboi



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, Asexual Rey (Star Wars), Autistic Finn, Awkward Dates, Chicago (City), F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Friendship, Meet-Cute, Minor Character(s), Romance, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Video & Computer Games, Workplace Relationship, a bit of crack, all characters are autistic unless stated otherwise, autistic Rey, cute as heck, which is what you get when you read stories by an autistic person
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-10
Updated: 2016-07-18
Packaged: 2018-07-14 07:23:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7159487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moistureboi/pseuds/moistureboi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rey is a retail worker who is underpaid by a ruthless manager at a GameStop in Chicago. She hates her job as a cashier, but a new employee at the store causes her to hate it a little less.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1 - The New Guy

_Beep._

_Beep._

_Beep._

_Beep._

_B-_

Rey turned over groggily in her bed and swiped “Snooze” on her phone’s alarm with her eyes still practically closed. “No.” She murmured, as if she didn't live alone in a tiny studio apartment.

After only two more repetitions of this alarm-to-snooze sequence, Rey slithered out of her bed and began to get her things together for her workday. She put on her tacky GameStop polo shirt and some jeans, looked in the mirror, and sighed. Her hair was on the fine line of messy and appropriate to wear in public, so she put it up. Today, her hair was in three buns. She didn't care if people thought it was strange. She liked to do things her own way. Grabbing her bag and packing a hot pocket for her lunch break, Rey went downstairs and rode her moped to GameStop for another grueling day of retail employment.

Rey was opening today; she took out her keys, unlocked the door, and turned the lights on. Getting ready for her upcoming hours of suffering, she regretted not stopping for coffee. She was almost half an hour early. She was sitting at the counter trying to keep her eyes open when a boy walked in wearing a GameStop shirt similar to hers, although she had never seen him there before. The young man looked confused and almost anxious as he approached Rey at the counter. “Uh,” he stammered, scratching the back of his neck nervously. “Are you, uh…” Awkwardly, he leaned closer to read the name tag on her shirt. “... Rey?”

Rey looked at the boy blankly for a moment. “Yes...” She paused, creating an uncomfortable seven seconds of silence between the two of them. “Can I help you with something?” The boy’s eyes widened. “Uh, yes. Well, actually, I just got hired and now I work here.” He received a confused look from Rey. “It's my first day. I'm Finn. Nice to meet you.” He said, extending his hand across the counter. Rey took his hand and shook it, taking note of the small wince on Finn’s face at her grip.

“Of course Unkar didn't tell me,” Rey groaned as she began to give Finn a tour of the store and the back rooms. “Would've been nice to know that we have a new employee...” She trailed off, mostly just complaining to herself.

“ _Aren't cashiers usually hired because of their friendliness or something?_ ” Finn thought to himself. “ _She must have one hell of a fake ‘retail voice’ when it comes to customers... At least, I hope so._ ”

“This doubles as a little break room," Rey said, interrupting Finn's inner dialogue. "There's a microwave for when you take your lunch break.” The little room was sad and dimly lit, and the two folding chairs at the little table looked less than inviting. “It's also the back room where we keep stock. You’ve been hired to stock shelves, right?” Finn nodded. “I'm sorry.” Rey said, raising her eyebrows and showing a tiny hint of a smile.

As Rey led Finn back to the front of the store to resume her spot at the cash register, she realized that Finn had been holding her hand the entire time she was showing him around. “Stop holding my hand!” She exclaimed without thinking, instantly regretting her harsh tone.

Finn apologized sincerely, and Rey could see slight panic in his face. In an effort to keep the morning from spiraling further downward than it already was, Rey quietly said "Sorry." and let out an awkward chuckle that made the whole exchange a bit more and a bit less uncomfortable at the same time.

Luckily, time was on their side. A customer walked in after that very moment, ringing the bell on the door and causing Rey to take her seat on the stool behind the counter and snap into her friendly cashier persona. Then, with a friendly smile, she quickly but politely asked the woman who had just walked in if she needed help finding anything. Finn stood watching, his eyes wide and his brain puzzled. “ _Damn. Nice retail voice._ ” He thought before he could stop himself. With that, Finn turned and pretended that he knew how to stock the shelves.


	2. Chapter 2 - Meet Matt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet Matt.

A week and a half had passed. Finn was finally understanding the basics of shelf-stocking. Rey had been helpful in teaching him the ins-and-outs of the store; however, she wasn't the most sociable person, as Finn soon realized, being as chatty as he was. She was the type of person that could sit comfortably in silence for extended periods of time while Finn would, in the same moment, be searching frantically in his head for something to say, spewing out small talk as if the silence was unbearable. 

Even though Unkar was the store's manager, he wasn't there often - a fact that both Finn and Rey found preferable. There was another man about their age that worked sometimes named Matt. He didn't work much; he mostly opened or closed, working odd shifts that usually weren't very busy. In truth, Matt wasn't a people person either; although his coworkers sometimes found him tolerable, he was a bit standoffish and, when in certain moods, downright unapproachable - which was why he worked when he did. 

One Friday morning at about 11 o'clock, Rey and Matt were behind the counter while Finn took inventory. The store was empty. Rey was doodling in a notepad, oblivious to the near-tangible awkwardness that filled the room. Matt cleared his throat uncomfortably. Then, he said, in a hoarse, monotonous voice, "Uh, my, um, friend, erm," he paused and inhaled. "... _Armitage_ , is having a Smash Wii U tournament at his house tonight... There's gonna be like, a _lot_ of people there. It's for the best players around. So I, uh, thought you guys might wanna come. You probably won't do good, like, at all, but you're invited 'cause Armitage said to ask any Smash players I know. And you guys, uh... Play Smash. So, yeah."

Rey and Finn shared a confused look. Rey shrugged as if to say " _Why not?"_ Finn shrugged back and squinted as if to say " _What the hell kind of white boy name is_ Armitage _?_ " They both guessed that the other didn't have anything better to do that night. Rey hadn't gone out on a Friday since she could remember due to her not having any close friends in the city. She was fairly new to Chicago, and she wasn't always the most sociable in the first place, so she hadn't yet gotten to meet people her age yet. Finn was in the same situation, so he agreed. They nodded at each other.

"Sure, Matt. Sounds like fun. Don't underestimate me, though," Finn said. "I play a _mean_  Kirby." Rey chuckled at Finn's confidence. For the first time, Finn noticed Rey's smile. It took extra effort to try not to stare at her crinkled nose and perfect teeth. He shook his head after a moment and laughed a genuine laugh.

Rey turned from Finn to Matt, still smiling. "Count me in on that too, Matt. I'm about to kick all of your asses as Lucina." She smirked at Finn.

"Excuse me. Is that a challenge?"

"Maybe."

Matt interrupted their banter. "Okay, uh, I'll tell Armitage you guys are coming. What kind of pizza do you guys want? We're ordering Rosati's."

"Sausage!" "Mushroom!" They shouted in unison.

"You're disgusting!" They also shouted in unison.

"Yeah, I'm, uh, just gonna tell him to get another large pepperoni..."

Rey and Finn didn't hear. They were too busy debating pizza toppings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short but sweet chapter from ya boy Dani! As always, please comment; I really want to hear what you think of this story so far! Tune in next time for a H E A T E D tournament! (P.S. To clear up any possible confusion from non-Chicagoans, Rosati's Pizzeria is a popular pizza joint in the Chicago area, which is where this story takes place! I didn't know that Rosati's was only in this area... lol.) Love ya! - Lukas


	3. Chapter 3 - The Tournament

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Four socially-clueless nerds play Smash Wii U together.

Finn and Rey arrived at the address that Matt had given them at about 6:30. Rey raised her fist to knock on the door to Armitage's apartment, but Finn grabbed her wrist, stopping her, and whispered, "Just so you know, I have a bat in the trunk of my car." Rey raised an eyebrow. "Just in case this Armitage guy tries to lock us in his basement or something." Rey rolled her eyes and looked at him like he'd just suggested to rob a bank. "What?" Finn asked, completely serious. "I like to be prepared. Don't tell me ' _Armitage_ ' doesn't sound like the name of a serial killer." 

"I think we'll be fine," said Rey. "I'm just here to eat pizza and kick ass." With that, she smirked and turned to knock on the door.

"Come in!" A loud voice from within the apartment snipped. Rey and Finn shared a look before they opened the door and entered. There, they saw Matt and whom one could only assume to be Armitage sitting on the couch in front of the TV, eyes locked on the screen. They would occasionally shout obscenities at each other such as "Don't Bowser-Bomb me, you absolute WANKER!" and "I SWEAR TO JESUS, ARM, IF YOU SPAM WITH THAT HAMMER ONE MORE TIME."

Finn looked at Rey with his eyes wide. " _Oh. My GOD_." He mouthed to her. She covered her mouth with her hand so she wouldn't laugh out loud. After Armitage and Matt finished their match, Finn cleared his throat. "Ahem."

Matt and Armitage turned their heads around to look at them from the couch. Matt gestured to the two guests. "These are the guys I was telling you about. Finn and Rey."

Armitage stood up and shook hands with both of them. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm glad you two showed up." He said in a polite voice that was the complete opposite of that which they'd just heard. Armitage paused and looked around the room nervously. "I'm afraid no one else has shown up yet, so we're the only ones here for now, but that just means we can get even more matches in!" He laughed a fake, uncomfortable laugh. "Luckily, the pizza should be here any minute now." 

Finn and Rey simply looked at each other with blank, wide-eyed stares.

Twenty minutes later, the four were completely engrossed in their game. Matt and Armitage were sitting side by side on the small couch while Rey and Finn sat on the ground in front of it. Two empty pizza boxes sat open on the coffee table. What was originally planned to be a "tournament" had ended up as just four people playing Wii U and yelling at each other.

Matt sat uncharacteristically close to Armitage; their knees were touching, and Matt's usual aura of uptight awkwardness seemed to subside around Armitage. Both Finn and Rey found it surprising yet pleasant. This new side of Matt was actually a fun person, something neither of them would have guessed. 

In the middle of one match, Finn turned to look at Rey, about to make a playfully snide remark to her, when time seemed to stop for a short while. In this short-yet-long moment, Finn noticed, _really_ noticed the details of Rey. He noticed the fact that she stuck her tongue out slightly when she was focusing on the game and he noticed the light freckles on her forehead. Finn noticed how, occasionally, a wispy piece of her hair would fall down from her ponytail and attempt to shield her eyes from the screen, and he noticed the way she'd attempt to blow the hair out of her face without taking her hands off the controller, jerking her head slightly as she remained focused on the game. 

"Finn." Rey turned to him and said suddenly.

Finn jolted, snapping back to the present moment. "What?"

"What are you doing?"

Finn realized that his character hadn't moved in however long he had just been zoning out. He chuckled nervously. "I just spaced out for a second, sorry." He grinned nervously.

 Hours passed. Two cases of Mountain Dew and several bags of both Cool Ranch and Nacho Cheese Doritos later, the night had reached a stopping point. Armitage was unquestionably the best, which, Finn and Rey learned, was due to the fact that he played online every single day. Because of this, he wasn't too happy at the fact that Rey beat him a few times. Despite what anyone had thought previously, the night had gone well, and each person left with new people that they could call friends. They all agreed to meet and hang out more often. Everyone was getting pretty tired, so Rey and Finn left and headed their separate ways. 

That night, Finn laid in his bed, staring up at the ceiling of his tiny apartment. He wan't sure how he felt about Rey. Regardless of what it was, he knew that it could only lead to something interesting. _That's what Rey is, for sure_ , Finn thought. _Interesting._ Real _interesting._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's right, Kylux is a sideship! Sorry for not updating sooner; I've had rehearsal these past few weeks, and a severe lack of motivation on top of that, to be completely honest... Anyway, here you go! I'll try to be quicker with posting chapters. Also I know that the story seems a bit one-sided (or should I say "Finn-sided"), but that will change in time... As always, p l e a s e leave a comment! I love hearing feedback from readers! Have a great day! ily -Lukas

**Author's Note:**

> hello, everyone! please tell me what you think of this first chapter! i'm planning on making this a rather long story with several chapters. thank you so much for reading! please comment! also, feel free to go on my tumblr moisture-boi.tumblr.com and request fics or drabbles! thanks! - Lukas


End file.
